Moved into house to discover subsidence

Slarence

Hi All, first post!...

My girlfriend and I recently completed (a week ago today) on our two bedroom semi detached house and we really fell in love with it.

We noticed almost instantly that the uPVC conservatory has come away from the house by a good couple of inches at the top! We further checked inside the garage and noticed that the garage is also coming away from the house and we can see daylight through the edge of the door and up and out of the roof.

We checked the front of the garage from the front of the house and noticed that about three bricks up on the side of the house looks to have been refilled, when putting a spirit level against it, the house has clearly moved.

If that wasn't enough, we then noticed cracks in the brick work in the top left corner of the garage and pins had been out in place around the cracks which are obviously there to measure subsidence! Also looks like the neighbours wall two bricks up has been refilled!

None of this was brought to our attention by the seller and didn't come up on the basics survey (obviously now we regret only having a basic survey) even though it is clear to see even at a first look.

Question is, do we have a leg to stand on here and what options are available? We are very upset with it all and feel we have been misold the property

Thanks in Advance.

billjohnson1986

Why do you feel you have been miss sold the property?

Were these things obvious when you conducted your viewings etc...

Even so the Vendor doesn't have to tell you about this sort of thing unless asked directly.

I know hindsight is a great thing but when your making such a huge investment you need to protect it. The basic survey is purely for valuation reasons and mainly for the Lender.

silvercar

If the subsidence is as obvious as you say then I am surprised the valuer didn't notice it. They have a duty to the lender to check that the property is worth lending on and major subsidence should have been noted.

If the vendor's have evidence of sibsidance I thought it had to be declared somewhere on the forms. Measuring gauges in the brick work would be an indication that something was causing concern.

nubbins

Its a case of buyer beware and having a full survey on the property would have brought this to your attention. In terms of being mis-sold, the law has changed in the last few years and you maybe able to take this further.

Someone more knowledgable will be along shortly but I would look closely at the seller information form that you should have received and be on to my solicitors.


http://hoa.org.uk/2013/10/what-estate-agents-have-to-tell-you-changes-to-the-law/

Gordon_Hose

Full structural surveys are there to tell you of these things. For the sake of £700 you could have saved yourself a lot of hassle.

You have learnt ed a valuable lesson, but now it's time to call in a structural engineer who can put a price on the remidial work required.

thorsoak

Did you not have a survey?

goodwithsaving

By basic survey, do you mean just the valuation? Not the homebuyer report.

Unfortunately, due to having not had a HB report, there will likely be no comeback. The additional expenditure of a HB report is a pain on top of all fees but it is to protect from this stuff.

Mocha61

Always good to get a good survey done, that way most but not all problems will be brought to your attention. Im surprised the valuation for your lender didnt point this out as they need to make sure house is worth what you paid for it. Unfortunately dont think you have any come back with vendors.

silvercar

Lender's liability

So lender's do have some responsibility.

Slarence

Thanks All for your reply, as I said, we do obviously regret not having a better survey done, it's really from a remedial perspective for this post I.e where we go from here, I really appreciate all your advice.

getmore4less

THat list would have been obvious from just viewing the property